Thill-coupling



c. u. HUNTER.

THILL COUPLING.

ApplicAtion filed Feb. 19, 1898.)

Patented Dec. l3, I898.

(No Model.)

1H9 J J 7.) 7 6 .l a A a? a I a z h'o 7" 0 7L I I 7 J W o m o a n l v O3 Tu: norms PETERS co. FHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON. 01c.

NITE. STATES PATENT FFIcE.

CHARLES N. HUNTER, OF VERSAILLES, INDIANA.

THILL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 615,990, dated December13, 1898.

Application filed February 19, 1898. Serial No. 670,923. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES N. HUNTER,

I a citizen of the United States, residing at Versailles, in the countyof Ripley and State of Indiana, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Thin-Couplings, of which the following is aspecification.

' My invention relates to thill couplings and supports, and its noveltyand advantages will be fully understood from the following descriptionand claims when taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, in whichFigure l is a plan view of a pair of thills connected to an axle by myimproved couplings and equipped with my improved supports. Figs. 2 and 3are enlarged detailsections taken in the planes indicated by the lines0: 5E and y g, respectively, of Fig. 1. Fig. 4: comprises disconnectedperspective views of parts of one coupling, and Fig. 5 is a detailperspective View of one clip-plate.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, A designates the axle of avehicle, B designates a pair of thills, and C designates the couplingsfor connecting the thills to the axle. These couplings are similar inconstruction, and therefore a description of the one shown in detail inFigs. 2 and 4 will suffice for both. Said coupling comprises thethill-iron a, having the enlargement b, the clip 0, arranged on the axleand having the lugs e, provided with the transverse apertures f, andalso provided in their inner sides with grooves g, arranged coincidentwith and extending upwardly from the apertures f, the clip-plate cl,secured to the clip, and the bolt h, arranged in the apertures f of thelug and having the elongated diametrically-disposed slot 2', as shown.The enlargement b of the thill-iron-a corresponds in length to thedistance between the outer walls of the grooves g of lugs c, as doesalso the slot 2 in bolt h. In virtue of this it will be seen that whenthe slot?) of bolt h is coincident with the grooves g of lugs e theenlargement 1) of the thill-iron a may be readily introd need to orremoved from its position in the slot of the bolt. Such introduction andremoval of. the thill-iron can only be effected when the thill is in anupright position, for when it is in a horizontal or approximatelyhorizontal position the enlargement b will be disposed at an angle tothe grooves g, as

shown in Fig. 1. It follows from this that while the thills may bequickly and easily disconnected from the axle when said thills are in anupright position there is absolutely no liability of said thills beingcasually disconnected when in their operative position- 2'. a,horizontal or approximately horizontalwhich is a, desideratum.

D designates the improved thill-supports, which have for their purposeto yieldingly support the thills inthe operative position desired andare designed with a View of permitting the thills to be readilyconnected to and disconnected from the axle in the manner beforedescribed. The said supports D are similar in construction and theyrespectively comprise'a clip j, arranged on the axle, a plate 70,connected to the ends of said clip and having the downwardly andforwardly pitched and slotted arm Z, the rod m, which is fixedlyconnected to the lateral branch'n and the main portion of the thill-irona and rests loosely in the slot of arm Z and is threaded at anintermediate point of its length, as indicated by p, the nut g, which ismounted on said threaded portion 19 of the rod, and the coiled spring1", which surrounds the rod and is interposed between the nut and thearm Zof the clip-plate k, as shown.- The coiled springs 4' of thesupports D are sufficiently strong to support the thills in theiroperative position and take the weight of the same off the draft-animal.The said springs are also designed and adapted to support the thills intheir operative or horizontal position when the draft-animal is removed.In virtue of the construction of the supports it will also be observedthat they maybe readily adjusted, so as to support the thills atvariousheights and adapt the same to horses of various sizes. In effecting suchadj ustment when the thills are too low the nut q is turned down uponthe rod m, so as to contract the spring r and raise the thills, whilewhen said thills are too high the nut is moved away from the lower endof the rod, so as to permit the spring to expand and the thills to movedownwardly.

While the supports D are adapted to be adjusted in the manner described,they do not interfere with the thills being raised to a verticalposition nor do they interfere with the thills being disconnected fromthe axle when they are in such position. \Vhen the thills are swungupwardly, the rods of the supports D are free to play in the elongatedslots of the arms I. Also when the thills are in a vertical position thesupports D may be readily withdrawn from the slots of the arms Z, whilewhen the said thills are lowered the rods will reenter the slots of thearms Z and the springs will bear against said arms for the purposedescribed.

It is obvious that when desired my improvements may be employed inconjunction with the tongue or pole of a vehicle as well as with thills.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combinationof an axle, a thill or pole provided with an iron, a clip fixed on theaxle, a pivotal connection between the thill or pole iron and the cliparranged to 00- act with means on said iron and clip to preventdisconnection of the thill or pole except when the same is in a verticalor approximately vertical position, the plate 70 connected to the axleand having the forwardly-extending arm l provided with an elongatedslot, the rod permanently connected to the thill or pole and arranged toextend loosely through the slot in arm Z, when the thill or pole is inits operative position and having the threaded portion 17, the nutmounted on said threaded portion of the rod, and the coiled springsurrounding the rod and interposed between the nut thereon and the arm1, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of an axle, thills connected together by a cross-barand provided with irons, clips fixed on the axle, pivotal connectionsbetween the thil -irons and the clips arranged to coact with means onsaid irons and clips to prevent disconnection of the thills except whenthe same are in avertical or approximately vertical position,plates 70connected to the axle atpoints between the clips and having theforwardly-extending arms Z provided with elongated slots, the rodspermanently connected to the thills and the cross-bar between the sameand arranged to extend loosely through the slots in the arms Z when thethills are in their operative position and having the threaded portions13, the

nuts mounted on said threaded portions of the rods, and the coiledsprings surrounding the rods and interposed between the nuts thereon andthe arms Z, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing wit- DGSSBS.

CHARLES N. HUNTER. Vitnesses:

ALFRED G. HUNTER, ROBERT R. WHITE.

